Tree Rings

To say that we are living in challenging times right now is an understatement. There is a war going on in our heads and our hearts and everyone is affected. I have the ability to live with some privilege that others do not, so it’s my job to do what I can with that privilege to try to make things right. One of the places I start is at home. My girls and I are having some real conversations about the deaths in Orlando, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and the five police officers killed in Dallas, and the many other deaths recently brought to greater public attention. I never thought one of my girls would have to ask, “Did he get killed because he is Black?” But it is part of my privilege that this wasn’t really on my radar until recently and something that I need to undo. When talking about the lives lost in Orlando, one of my girls says that she too really likes one of her friends, who is a girl, and is thinking about marrying her, “is that ok?” It’s crazy when we second guess who we can love and if we can show our love in public. (We also talked about waiting a long time to get married, no matter who you want marry!)

Also this week I attended the births of two beautiful babies, one to a friend and fellow midwife. Both babies born in the water, slid right out and into the hands of their parents (“slid right out” is probably not how these moms would have described that moment!). Both babies had older siblings also present eagerly awaiting this moment they had been prepped for for so long.

Birth and death.

Of all the articles I have been reading, this one really got to me. These are our kids, the future of this country. If nothing else we should be fighting to make things better for them, right? Babies will continue to be born in the midst of our struggles with our messy humanity so we have to keep marching forward to a better world for them, and teaching them how they can make it better too.